16 of our GCSE French pupils in Year 10 joined Wednesfield Academy (another school within Matrix Academy Trust) for a visit to the Christmas markets in Lille and St Omer in northern France.
Pupils travelled by coach to the residential centre and immediately started a game of football, enjoying some running around after a long day on the ferry and in the coach, before dinner and an early(ish) night.
Mr Brennan woke us all up very early on Saturday, ready for our day out in St Omer. The boys completed a town trail, visited the Notre Dame de Saint Omer cathedral, before visiting the local and Christmas markets in St Omer. Here, some pupils treated themselves to a delicious pizza lunch or chicken and chips at the market instead of their packed baguettes. After this, we went to a chocolaterie, a local business which makes chocolates by hand. We learnt how they make chocolates and how they create their Christmas hollow snowmen and reindeer, before quality assuring the taste of some of the goods. Our tour guide was very impressed with the quality of French from our pupils and made them practice their verbs throughout! After dinner in our accommodation, pupils made their own crêpes before enjoying the games room onsite (no football in the rain!).
On Sunday, we ventured into Lille and visited the shopping centre in the morning, before enjoying the museum of illusions. Pupils really enjoyed the illusions, especially a tunnel that felt like you were upside down and ‘dangling’ off balconies. After a quick lunch stop at McDonalds, we went into the Christmas market and pupils used their French skills to make their purchases. Our evening activity was snail and cheese tasting (not together) – with many of our boys being brave enough to sample the snails… but decided they were not fans of the blue cheese on offer.
Our journey back was smooth until we hit London and then traffic on the M40 / M42, but the boys returned home full of stories to share back at school on Tuesday.
